Federal Register / Vol. 71, No. 184 / Friday, September 22, 2006 / Notices 55523 

These revised standards and 

guidelines replace OMB Statistical 

Policy Directives Nos. 1 and 2, on 

Standards for Statistical Surveys, and 

Standards for Publishing Statistics, 

respectively. These standards and 

guidelines were last revised in 1974 

when they were issued as OMB Circular 

No. A–46, Exhibits A and B. The 

standards were reissued in 1978 as 

Statistical Policy Directives 1 and 2 

when the statistical policy function was 

temporarily relocated to the Department 

of Commerce, and their designation as 

Statistical Policy Directives remained 

when the statistical policy function was 

returned to OMB in 1981 under the 

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1980. 

Development and Review 

As part of ongoing efforts to improve 

the quality of information collected by 

the Federal Government and to update 

statistical standards and guidance, OMB 

requested in 2003 that agencies who 

were members of the Interagency 

Council on Statistical Policy (ICSP) 

nominate representatives to a new 

subcommittee formed under the aegis of 

the Federal Committee on Statistical 

Methodology (FCSM). This 

subcommittee was asked to review 

Statistical Policy Directives Nos. 1 and 

2 and to make recommendations for 

updating or revising these standards to 

reflect current best practices in Federal 

statistical agencies. 

The subcommittee reviewed the OMB 

directives, standards currently used by 

Federal statistical agencies, and 

standards and guidelines produced and 

disseminated by national statistical 

institutes in a number of other 

countries. The subcommittee also drew 

on interagency efforts by statistical 

agencies to develop a common 

framework for their activities in 

response to OMB’s issuance of its 

Information Quality Guidelines (IQG) 

and the requirement that agencies issue 

their own IQGs (67 FR 8452–8460). 

The revised and updated standards 

and guidelines developed by the 

subcommittee reflected the 

organizational framework that the 

statistical agencies used for their 

Information Quality Guidelines. They 

were the product of a careful and 

deliberate process to create a set of 

standards and guidelines that will 

address all key aspects of planning, 

conducting, processing, and 

disseminating Federal statistical 

surveys. Because OMB standards and 

guidelines must cover a broad range of 

applications, agencies are encouraged to 

develop their own more specific 

standards for the statistical surveys and 

studies they conduct or sponsor. The 

subcommittee provided initial draft 

standards and guidelines for review by 

the FCSM and then by the ICSP in 2004. 

The subcommittee addressed the 

comments it received at each stage and 

provided its recommendations to OMB 

in 2005. 

OMB issued the proposed standards 

and guidelines for public comment in 

July 2005 (70 FR 40746–40747). Six 

public comments were received in 

response to OMB’s request. OMB 

reviewed the standards and guidelines 

and made some modifications in 

response to the public comments. The 

final standards and guidelines, the 

public comments, and OMB’s summary 

of and response to the public comments 

are available on the OMB Web site at 

http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/ 

inforeg/statpolicy.html. 

Steven D. Aitken, 

Acting Administrator, Office of Information 

and Regulatory Affairs. 

[FR Doc. 06–8044 Filed 9–21–06; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3110–01–P 

RAILROAD RETIREMENT BOARD 

Agency Forms Submitted for OMB 

Review 

Summary: In accordance with the 

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 

U.S.C. Chapter 35), the Railroad 

Retirement Board (RRB) has submitted 

the following proposal(s) for the 

collection of information to the Office of 

Management and Budget for review and 

approval. 

Summary of Proposal(s) 

(1) Collection title: Employer 

Reporting. 

(2) Form(s) submitted: AA–12, G–

88A.1, G–88A.2, BA–6a, BA–6a 

(Internet), BA–6a (E-mail). 

(3) OMB Number: 3220–0005. 

(4) Expiration date of current OMB 

clearance: 12/31/2006. 

(5) Type of request: Revision of a 

currently approved collection. 

(6) Respondents: Business or other 

for-profit, Individuals or Households. 

(7) Estimated annual number of 

respondents: 495. 

(8) Total annual responses: 1,958. 

(9) Total annual reporting hours: 418. 

(10) Collection description: Under the 

Railroad Retirement Act and the 

Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act, 

railroad employers are required to 

report service and compensation for 

employees needed to determine 

eligibility to and the amounts of benefits 

paid. 

Additional Information or Comments: 

Copies of the forms and supporting 

documents can be obtained from 

Charles Mierzwa, the agency clearance 

officer (312–751–3363) or 

Charles.Mierzwa@rrb.gov. 

Comments regarding the information 

collection should be addressed to 

Ronald J. Hodapp, Railroad Retirement 

Board, 844 North Rush Street, Chicago, 

Illinois, 60611–2092 or 

Ronald.Hodapp@rrb.gov and to the 

OMB Desk Officer for the RRB, at the 

Office of Management and Budget, 

Room 10230, New Executive Office 

Building, Washington, DC 20503. 

Charles Mierzwa, 

Clearance Officer. 

[FR Doc. 06–8049 Filed 9–21–06; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 7905–01–P 

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE 

COMMISSION 

Proposed Collections; Comment 

Request 

Upon Written Request, Copies Available 

From: Securities and Exchange 

Commission, Office of Filings and 

Information Services, Washington, DC 

20549. 

Extensions: 

Form F–7, OMB Control No. 3235–0383, 

SEC File No. 270–331. Form F–8, OMB 

Control No. 3235–0378, SEC File No. 

270–332. 

Notice is hereby given that pursuant 

to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 

(44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.) the Securities 

and Exchange Commission 

(‘‘Commission’’) is soliciting comments 

on the collections of information 

summarized below. The Commission 

plans to submit these existing 

collections of information to the Office 

of Management Budget for approval. 

Form F–7 (17 CFR 239.37) may be 

used to register under the Securities Act 

of 1933 (15 U.S.C. 77a et seq.) securities 

offered for cash upon exercise of rights 

that are granted to its existing 

shareholders of the registrant to 

purchase or subscribe such securities. 

The information collected is intended to 

ensure that the information required to 

be filed by the Commission permits 

verification of compliance with 

securities law requirements and assures 

the public availability of such 

information. Form F–7 takes 

approximately 4 hours per response to 

prepare and is filed by 5 respondents. 

We estimate that 25% of 4 hours per 

response (one hour) is prepared by the 

company for a total annual reporting 

burden of 5 hours (one hour per 

response × 5 responses). The remaining 


sroberts on PROD1PC70 with NOTICES
55524 Federal Register / Vol. 71, No. 184 / Friday, September 22, 2006 / Notices 

75% of the burden hours is attributed to 

outside cost. 

Form F–8 (17 CFR 239.38) may be 

used to register under the Securities Act 

of 1933 (15 U.S.C. 77a et seq.) securities 

of certain Canadian issuers to be used in 

exchange offers or business 

combinations. The information 

collected is intended to ensure that the 

information required to be filed by the 

Commission permits verification of 

compliance with securities law 

requirements and assures the public 

availability of such information. Form 

F–8 takes approximately one hour per 

response to prepare and is filed by 10 

respondents. We estimate that 25% of 

one hour per response (15 minutes) is 

prepared by the company for a total 

annual reporting burden of 3 hours (15 

minutes/60 minutes per response × 10 

responses = 2.5 hours rounded to 3 

hours). The remaining 75% of the 

burden hours is attributed to outside 

cost. 

Written comments are invited on: (a) 

Whether these proposed collections of 

information are necessary for the proper 

performance of the functions of the 

agency, including whether the 

information will have practical utility; 

(b) the accuracy of the agency’s estimate 

of the burden of the collection of 

information collection information; (c) 

ways to enhance the quality, utility, and 

clarity of the information collected; and 

(d) ways to minimize the burden of the 

collection of information on 

respondents, including through the use 

of automated collection techniques or 

other forms of information technology. 

Consideration will be given to 

comments and suggestions submitted in 

writing within 60 days of this 

publication. 

Please direct your written comments 

to R. Corey Booth, Director/Chief 

Information Officer, Securities and 

Exchange Commission, c/o Shirley 

Martinson 6432 General Green Way, 

Alexandria, Virginia 22312; or send an 

e-mail to: PRA_Mailbox@sec.gov. 

Dated: September 13, 2006. 

Jill M. Peterson, 

Assistant Secretary. 

[FR Doc. 06–7994 Filed 9–21–06; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 8010–01–P 

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE 

COMMISSION 

Submission for OMB Review; 

Comment Request 

Upon Written Request, Copies Available 

From: Securities and Exchange 

Commission, Office of Filings and 

Information Services, Washington, DC 

20549. 

Extension: 

Rule 11a–2, SEC File No. 270–267, OMB 

Control No. 3235–0272. 

Notice is hereby given that pursuant 

to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 

(44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.) the Securities 

and Exchange Commission 

(‘‘Commission’’) has submitted to the 

Office of Management and Budget 

(‘‘OMB’’) a request for an extension of 

the previously approved collection of 

information discussed below. 

The title for the collection of 

information is ‘‘Rule 11a–2 Under the 

Investment Company Act of 1940: Offers 

of Exchange by Certain Registered 

Separate Accounts or Others the Terms 

of Which Do Not Require Prior 

Commission Approval.’’

Rule 11a–2 (17 CFR 270.11a–2) under 

the Investment Company Act of 1940 

(15 U.S.C. 80a–1 et seq.) permits certain 

registered insurance company separate 

accounts, subject to certain conditions, 

to make exchange offers without prior 

approval by the Commission of the 

terms of those offers. Rule 11a–2 

requires disclosure, in certain 

registration statements filed pursuant to 

the Securities Act of 1933 (15 U.S.C. 77a 

et seq.) of any administrative fee or sales 

load imposed in connection with an 

exchange offer. 

There are currently 736 registrants 

governed by Rule 11a–2. The 

Commission includes the estimated 

burden of complying with the 

information collection required by Rule 

11a–2 in the total number of burden 

hours estimated for completing the 

relevant registration statements and 

reports the burden of Rule 11a–2 in the 

separate PRA submissions for those 

registration statements (see the separate 

PRA submissions for Form N–3 (17 CFR 

274.11b), Form N–4 (17 CFR 274.11c) 

and Form N–6 (17 CFR 274.11d). The 

Commission is requesting a burden of 

one hour for Rule 11a–2 for 

administrative purposes. 

The estimate of average burden hours 

is made solely for the purposes of the 

Paperwork Reduction Act, and is not 

derived from a comprehensive or even 

a representative survey or study of the 

costs of Commission rules or forms. 

With regard to Rule 11a–2, the 

Commission includes the estimate of 

burden hours in the total number of 

burden hours estimated for completing 

the relevant registration statements and 

reported on the separate PRA 

submissions for those statements (see 

the separate PRA submissions for Form 

N–3, Form N–4 and Form N–6). 

The information collection 

requirements imposed by Rule 11a–2 

are mandatory. Responses to the 

collection of information will not be 

kept confidential. An agency may not 

conduct or sponsor, and a person is not 

required to respond to, a collection of 

information unless it displays a 

currently valid control number. 

General comments regarding the 

above information should be directed to 

the following persons: (i) Desk Officer 

for the Securities and Exchange 

Commission, Office of Information and 

Regulatory Affairs, Office of 

Management and Budget, Room 10102, 

New Executive Office Building, 

Washington, DC 20503 or e-mail to: 

David_Rostker@omb.eop.gov; and (ii) R. 

Corey Booth, Director/Chief Information 

Officer, Securities and Exchange 

Commission, c/o Shirley Martinson, 

6432 General Green Way, Alexandria, 

Virginia 22312, or send an e-mail to: 

PRA_Mailbox@sec.gov. Comments must 

be submitted to OMB within 30 days of 

this notice. 

Dated: September 11, 2006. 

Jill M. Peterson, 

Assistant Secretary. 

[FR Doc. 06–7995 Filed 9–21–06; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 8010–01–P 

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE 

COMMISSION 

Submission for OMB Review 

Upon Written Request, Copies Available 

From: Securities and Exchange 

Commission, Office of Filings and 

Information Services, Washington, DC 

20549. 

Extension: 

Rule 17a–25, SEC File No. 270–482, OMB 

Control No. 3235–0540. 

Notice is hereby given that pursuant 

to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 

(44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.), the Securities 

and Exchange Commission 

(‘‘Commission’’) has submitted to the 

Office of Management and Budget 

request for extension of the previously 

approved collection of information 

discussed below. 

Rule 17a–25 (17 CFR 240.17a–25) 

requires registered broker-dealers to 

electronically submit securities 

transaction information, including 

identifiers for prime brokerage 

arrangements, average price accounts, 

and depository institutions, in a 

standardized format when requested by 

the Commission staff. In addition, the 

rule also requires broker-dealers to 

submit, and keep current, contact 

person information for electronic blue 


sroberts on PROD1PC70 with NOTICES